AND, STILL YET, MORE NEWS FROM THE FRONT

Today, let’s talk about heroes. The street sign for the Tahoma National Cemetery says “Where Heroes Rest” and, indeed, they do. But are they heroes in the traditional sense? You think, probably not but you would be wrong. At one time in their lives, these men and women sacrificed their time and, sometimes their lives, for our country and its way of life. We sometimes bandy about the word “hero” in reference to a marvelous athletic catch of a touchdown in a game all of us (boys, at least) played in grade school. Jermaine Kerse and Russell Wilson of the Seahawks would not say that they were in any way shape or form a hero in the Green Bay game last year. Did they do something heroic? No, I don’t think so and neither do they. They did what they signed up to do. So, why do we attribute heroic status to astronauts, politicians, or the person that saves a baby from a burning house? We do so because that is what we want so as to give tribute to a person that does something special and we know of no other way to do so. Although some of the men and women resting in Tahoma National Cemetery did not do anything that can be classified as heroic, they can, however, be included in the term heroic for that is what they signed up for. They served for you and your way of life.

For those of you that watch television, there is a show on that is called “Heroes”. That the communication industry has taken it upon itself to give us a show that has people do extraordinary things and call them “heroes” is demeaning to the brave souls that rest in our national cemeteries and they should be ashamed of themselves. They did not “put themselves out there” and did nothing to defend our way of life much less our country. Don’t get me wrong, we are not special. We are not heroes and many of us have never done anything especially “heroic”. We do not require special attention. All we require is some small measure of respect and dignity when we, too, are made a permanent resident of Tahoma National Cemetery. For WWII vets and those that fought in Korea and Vietnam, this is more of a reality than before. In the words of General Douglas MacArthur, “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away”. Just make sure that they don’t fade away unremembered or unappreciated.

By the way, I think I failed to mention that the requirement for being interred at Tahoma National Cemetery, the veteran has only to have an honorable discharge from our armed services and merchant marine proven by his/her discharge papers and the spouse by means of a marriage certificate. The interment is free. The only cost is that of the funeral home services who, by the way, are very well versed in making sure that all of the paperwork is complete. As of April 30, 2015 there were a total of 33,119 veterans buried at T.N.C. By William Stephens